Main subjects of the day
US stock futures were lower on Thursday morning as investors weighed the latest results from IBM and Tesla.
IBM rose 1.01% premarket after the company said margins were expanding. Tesla fell about 7.66% premarket after the electric vehicle maker reported net profit and GAAP earnings were down more than 20% year-on-year. Renault also released results that frustrated investors, and the auto sector led losses in European stock markets.
By 8:14 AM, futures linked to the Dow Jones lost 199 points, or 0.58%. S&P 500 futures were down 0.84%, while Nasdaq-100 futures were down 1.13%.
The slide in US stock futures came after a flat day in New York trading as investors scrutinized the latest earnings from companies including Netflix and Morgan Stanley. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones lost 79.62 points, or 0.23%, to finish at 33,897.01 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.01% to settle at 4,154.52 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.03% to close at 12,157.23 points.
Yesterday the Beige Book of the Federal Reserve, the American central bank, revealed stagnation of economic activity, greater frequency of price corrections and more restricted access to credit.
Other important earnings for Thursday are AT&T, Taiwan Semiconductor, BHP, Blackstone, American Express, Union Pacific, Kimberly Clark, Philip Morris, Volvo, and Nokia.
In addition to earnings, investors will keep an eye on morning data on jobless claims and existing home sales. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester are among central bank speakers scheduled to deliver comments on the economy across the country in the afternoon and at night.
Thursday’s global economic agenda:
• Europe: Euro Zone (Trade Balance/Feb, Consumer Confidence/Apr); United Kingdom (Consumer Confidence-GFK/Abr); Germany (IPP); France (Business Research/Apr); Spain (Trade Balance)
• Asia: Japan (CPI/Mar, Tertiary Activity Index, Industrial PMI/Apr); China (Foreign Direct Investment/Sea)
• Latin America: Brazil (CMN Meeting); Mexico (Retail Sales/Feb); Argentina (Budget Balance/Sea, Trade Balance/Sea)
• Central Banks: Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (ECB), Speeches by Christine Lagarde (ECB), Christopher Waller, Patrick Harker, Loretta Mester, Raphael Bostic, Michelle Bowman and Lorie Logan (Fed)
Wall Street Corporate Highlights for Today
Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) – Autoliv has announced its plan to build a new state-of-the-art fabric and airbag cushion factory in northern Vietnam, serving Asia and marking its first investment in Vietnam. Production of airbag cushions is expected to begin by the end of 2025. ALV shares were down less than 2% premarket.
Disney (NYSE:DIS) – Following Wednesday’s announcement of job cuts at Disney’s entertainment wing, the cuts are now expected to hit the ESPN unit next week, according to CNBC. Disney had previously announced it would cut 7,000 jobs in three rounds.
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) – A US appeals court sided with Amgen on Wednesday, dealing a setback for Novartis (NYSE:NVS) and Zydus Pharmaceuticals. This is a patent litigation case relating to an offer by Novartis and its partner to release generic versions of Amgen’s psoriasis drug Otezla.
Live Nation (LYV) – Event ticket company SeatGeek, a competitor to Live Nation and Vivid Seats, filed a confidential US initial public offering earlier this month. According to a report by The Information, SeatGeek expects to generate more than $500 million in revenue this year.
US GoldMining (NASDAQ:USGOW) – US GoldMining, an offshoot of Canada’s GoldMining, will begin trading on Nasdaq today. Its initial public offering was priced at 2 million units at $10.00 per unit. The offering’s gross proceeds are expected to be $20 million. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one share of USGO common stock exercisable at $13.00 per share for a period of three years after the date of issue. The offer is expected to close around April 24th.
Alphatec (NASDAQ:ATEC) – Shares of the medical technology company fell as much as 2.4% in premarket Thursday after it said it acquired all assets of the REMI Robotic Navigation System from Fusion Robotics for $55 million. The company also raised its 2023 revenue guidance based on strong preliminary Q1 results. Alphatec preliminary reported between $108 million and $109.5 million in first-quarter revenue, while analysts polled by FactSet estimated $101.6 million.
Earnings
Nokia (NYSE:NOK) – Shares in Nokia fell as much as 4% on Thursday, as the telecoms equipment maker posted worse-than-expected earnings, driving its sales outlook down and saying customers are starting to postpone expenses. First-quarter profit fell 32% to €289 million ($317 million), while sales rose 10% to €5.86 billion.
KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) – Shares fell as much as 3.4% in premarket trade after the regional bank missed its first-quarter profit target due to an increase in loan loss allowance and reported a drop in deposits. KeyCorp said its first-quarter net income fell to $275 million, or 30 cents per share, from $420 million, or 45 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) – The electric vehicle maker is down about 7.66% after reporting earnings that are down more than 20% from a year ago. CEO Elon Musk said an uncertain macro environment could impact people’s decisions to buy cars.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) – Technology stocks rose about 1% in premarket trade after the company reported a hit in earnings. IBM reported adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share, compared with $1.26 per share expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. However, its revenue was below expectations as parts of the company’s infrastructure business showed a slowdown.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) – The casino operator rose 5.5% after posting adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents in the first quarter, beating the 20 cents expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv. The company also beat revenue estimates.
Zions Bancoration (NASDAQ:ZION) – Shares fell 4.5% after the regional bank reported earnings per share of $1.33, below analyst expectations of $1.53, according to Refinitiv. Zions also reported $679 million in net interest income, below estimates of $687.5 million by StreetAccount.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) – Shares fell 1.3% after the payments company reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.40, below StreetAccount estimates of $2.66. However, revenue beat expectations, coming in at $14.28 billion, compared to an expected $13.98 billion.
DR Horton (NYSE:DHI) – Shares rose nearly 5% premarket after the homebuilder reported an outperformance of second-quarter earnings and revenue. Earnings per share were $2.73, versus $1.93 expected by analysts, per StreetAccount. Revenue reached US$8 billion, compared to an expected US$6.45 billion.
Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) – Shares of the midsize airline fell more than 1% after Alaska posted larger-than-expected first-quarter losses. The company lost an adjustment of 62 cents per share on $2.20 billion of revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected a loss of 48 cents per share on $2.19 billion in revenue. Alaska’s net loss was flat year over year.
F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) – Shares of the cloud-based software company fell about 7% after a mixed report of fiscal second-quarter results. F5 posted adjusted earnings of $2.53 per share on revenue of $703.2 million. Analysts had expected earnings per share of $2.42 and revenue of $698.4 million, according to FactSet data. The company also announced it would reduce its global headcount by 620 employees, or 9% of its workforce.
AT&T (NYSE:T) – The telecom giant fell 4.6% after reporting mixed results in the first quarter. Its revenue of $30.14 billion was below analyst estimates of $30.27 billion, according to Refinitiv. However, adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.60 cents, slightly above the expected $0.59 cents.
SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) – Shares gained 2.43% in premarket trade after SL Green said its same-store office occupancy in Manhattan was 90.2% as of March 31, a just above the company’s expectations. The real estate investment trust, a major owner of offices in New York City, posted a first-quarter loss of 63 cents a share, slightly larger than the 61 cents a share forecast by analysts, according to FactSet. Net rental income came in at $174.6 million, compared to analyst estimates of $182.6 million by StreetAccount.
Market Vision
Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) – Shares fell 3.7% after a downgrade to neutral from overweight by Piper Sandler. The Wall Street firm said persistent margin pressures were limiting upside potential.